


Moonlight Serenade

by Dancing_penguins



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Nygmobblepot, Oswald and Ed are tipsy, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Season 3, Self-Doubt, Violence, a bit - Freeform, because child abuse and violence, rated m just for safety, they are not in a relationship YET but theres hints
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 14:01:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17408237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dancing_penguins/pseuds/Dancing_penguins
Summary: After a long day of mayoral duties, Oswald and Ed are hoping to relax a bit in the comfort of their home, but Ed's troubled sleep doesn't help.





	Moonlight Serenade

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AndersAndrew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndersAndrew/gifts).



> I had the idea to write this after a terrible nightmare, it wasn't supposed to be as long as it is but here we are. Enjoy!

“Mister mayor”s and “over here please!”s had been the lot of Oswald C. Cobblepot, mayor of Gotham and of his chief of staff that evening. Like vultures, journalists wouldn’t cease circling around them, each and every one of them hoping to get even a scrap more of information than the others.

Of course, that was typical of his job as mayor, and this same process would happen every time that he would go to an official event. When he just went outside to eat though? Journalist would still be there but at least they knew how to be discreet then.

The opening ceremony of the new homeless shelter had since long been over, but the mass of people waiting, hoping to thank their mayor added to the flow of journalists had decided otherwise.

With each passing second Ed could feel Oswald’s growing frustration, and while he did his best to protect him from the onslaught of people, Oswald wouldn’t be able to last long in that state. Anyone looking at him wouldn’t be able to tell, after all Oswald was a master of manipulation and knew better than anyone how to put on a friendly face, concealing the darker thoughts beneath. Edward however, wasn’t anyone and with all the time they spent together, he had caught up on some signs Oswald would typically affect when he would grow tired and was considering all the possible ways in which to murder the person responsible of his boredom.

Making his way through the crowd, Edward leaned in to whisper that maybe now would be a good time to go.

Oswald nodded and flashing his teeth to the cameras one last time, let Ed’s gentle hand on his back lead him away, helping him escape.

As soon as they got inside the car and instructed to be brought back home, laughter erupted from them both.

“Thank god you got me out, one second more and there’d have been a massacre.”

“Oh but it wasn’t so terrible now, was it?”

 

He smiled mischievously, knowing full well that he too had hated every second of it.

Oswald let out a content sigh, letting himself relax against his seat.

 

“Being mayor is a big responsibility that I simply cannot afford to neglect. Gotham and its citizens need me, but what I need right now is a hot bath and wine.”

“I’ll pick out a bottle while you bathe if you want”

 

Oswald considered the proposition for a moment before nodding, “Yes that sounds lovely Edward”, He said with a smile.

The other man took on a confidant expression, feeling as if a great duty had been placed onto him, and soon straightened up seeing as they had nearly arrived at the mansion.

The tires screeched as the car came to a halt. They both got out -Edward holding Oswald’s door for him- and stepped back into their home, Oswald going straight to his bath while Ed ran to the cellar, ensuring that Oswald had the best evening possible after such a tiring day.

Oswald had come to acquire an expensive taste, which didn’t leave any space for mediocrity: “everything has to be perfect” Edward told himself as he browsed through Oswald’s private collection. They all were great wines, but each meal was different and Ed wanted to find the bottle that best would fit tonight’s dinner. 

 

An hour later Oswald arrived into the dining room wrapped in his bathrobe, his messy hair still damp. He found the table already set, two glasses of an excellent red patiently waiting along a plate of steak. Edward had taken off his coat and was lighting a candle, promptly turning to Oswald.

 

“I just finished preparing everything! I hope the wine I chose pleases you, I tried to choose something that wouldn’t be too strong as to not hide the meat’s taste.”, he said before sitting down. Though he tried to hide it, he was nervous at the idea that he could have done something wrong. Olga usually cooked, and Oswald was the one to pick a bottle but tonight he had done everything himself. 

“I fully trust your instincts Ed, you are a wonderful cook and not once have I been let down.” He took a small sip, and confirmed what he had just said by an approving hum, prompting a big smile from Ed.

The rest of the dinner went on swiftly, both men delighting in each other’s company.

The wine however, came to an end as Oswald drank the last of the bottle, and his face took on a saddened expression with the realisation of an empty glass.

Seeing this, Edward jumped to his feet and came back from the kitchen, another bottle in hand, but was stopped by the other man gesturing for him to put the bottle on the small living room’s table.

 

“Edward, would you be a dear and help me move our glasses? I think we would be more comfortable on the couch”

Ed nodded and, without a word, took both glasses to the table before offering his arm to Oswald. 

 

Comfortably seated, Ed poured them a glass, and gave Oswald a scolding look when he finished his straight up.

 

“Oh don’t give me that look, it’s Friday”

Ed raised an eyebrow but filled his glass once more, and continued to do so for the both of them until that second bottle was finished as well and he was left a blubbering mess. 

 

Oswald seemed to be talking about something important, but his head was spinning so much he could only muster enough of his strength to nod and try to appear normal.

 

“Ed are you okay?”

“Uh?”

“I think you had a little too much to drink”, he said with an amused look.

“N-no you’re th’one w’ drank too...much”

 

Oswald gently took his friend’s glass away, before letting out a sigh

 

“ ‘M sleepy…and m’head hurts...”

 

It was proving difficult resisting Edward’s charms, for in that precise moment he looked like a puppy and the only thing Oswald wanted to do was kiss his cheeks. He settled for a forehead kiss instead.

 

“Let’s get you to bed then”, he attempted to get up but Ed held onto his arm.

 

“C-could….I...sleep here?”

 

He knew he should refuse, but Ed looked so sad, and there was this hint of desperation in his eyes that he just couldn’t say no to. 

 

“Sure, I still have some stuff to attend to anyway”

 

He settled back into his seat and watched as Edward rested his head onto his lap, long legs dangling off the armrest. He tried to take on a disinterested look to hide the blush that was quickly spreading to his neck, and opened a book that had been laying around to try and avoid looking at his friend’s face while he slept.

Meanwhile, Ed thought about how this was the most comfortable he had been in months, and that maybe, just maybe tonight would give him a peaceful rest. 

 

However, life often goes against all we had hoped for.

————————————————————

Everything felt hazy and blurred and at the same time too vivid, too real. 

He was in his room, sitting on his bed, observing, unable to move. There was nothing around, no shadow, no sound to be afraid of and yet, something was off.

The deep unsettling sensation that he was being watched, trapped in this room couldn’t leave his mind. He had tried moving his legs, his hands, and even a finger, but not a single muscle would budge, his whole body seemed stiff and lifeless, a prison in which he couldn’t act nor protest, only contemplate with horror his demise.

Then, soft footsteps broke the heavy silence, and grew louder and louder before stopping right before the bedroom’s door.

Edward closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing but failing. 

Eyes still closed, he felt a hand yank him up by the hair, and a voice that couldn’t possibly be human ordered him to get up. Panicked, Ed tried everything he could do to get up but he was paralysed. The thing didn’t wait long before expressing its anger with a swift kick to the ribs, and when it saw that the poor man remained on the floor, Ed felt himself grabbed once again by the hair, and dragged on the floor to another room.

The pain was something, but the fear was worse. At this point he was so panicked that he wondered how  his body hadn’t yet passed out. 

He felt more kicks to the ribs, the stomach, the chest, each more violent that the last, specifically aimed at the place where it’d hurt him more. 

After a while, the kicks stopped, and he heard the voice again.

“Open your eyes”

The pain numbed his other senses and it took him a while to understand what had been said. Too long a while apparently because the other kicked him again, screaming.

“I TOLD YOU TO OPEN YOUR EYES ARE YOU DEAF?!”

This time he complied, and felt his last bit of hope die as his eyes landed on his father’s towering form.

Tears dropped on the floor, he couldn’t hold them back anymore.

 

“You little pest...lying again are you?”

 

Ed shook his head feebly, but it was no use.

 

“Everyday I ask myself what I did wrong to get such a disgrace...I was kind to you, I raised you, gave you food, an education, and still..you manage to complain, ungrateful bastard!” Mr. Nashton said, before landing a swift kick to his son’s stomach, prompting the air out of his lungs.

 

The pain shouldn’t have felt as real as it did, it was only a nightmare after all, and yet every fiber of his being was on fire, his body both numb and sensitive to any contact.

He had  trouble breathing, his throat hurting from the crying, and he was pretty sure at least one of his ribs was broken.

 

“Get up”

The order was said with no emotion behind it, but in Ed’s subconscious it pressed urgency. 

He wasn’t paralysed anymore, but he still felt weak, and dizzy, and he only managed to get on his knees before a wave of nausea hit him.

His father let out an angry growl and took him by the arm, throwing him against the wall. 

 

He had already lived this,  and he let his gaze wander to the knife on the kitchen table, but before he could do anything, his father threw it out of his reach.

 

“Did you truly think you would get rid of me with the knife this time? Pathetic...And I thought that in killing me you’d finally become a man, but look at you. Still a scared little boy, unable to do anything by himself, not even get a girlfriend.”

 

“ ”s not...t..rue..”

 

“I’m sorry what was that?”

 

“I-it’s not..true..”

He said, eyes full of tears locked onto his father’s

 

“Oh, are you talking about your job? The mayor’s chief of staff? Oh don’t make me laugh, the job wasn’t even yours in the first place. It was butch’s, though I truly do wonder how much time you had to spend kneeling under the table to get it. But if being the mayor’s...no..the penguin’s little boy toy makes you happy, then continue lying to yourself. I always suspected you to be a disgusting little faggot anyway, but perhaps a beating for old time’s sake will kick the gay ‘outta you.”

 

His speech finished, he resumed hitting his son with all his might, the poor Ed breaking out in sobs, unable to control himself anymore. Whole body shaking as he had a full on panic attack, screams getting choked under the tears and the pain.

 

“You never should have been born...you are a disgusting abomination...”

 

Was the last thing he heard before he felt himself drift off. 

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He woke up in a cold sweat, the panic and fear he had just experienced still very present. 

Oswald was cradling his head, seemingly panicked.

 

Oswald had been falling asleep, but when he had felt Edward tremble and then realised that he was crying, his heart had filled with worry and not knowing what to do, had tried waking Edward up. Now Edward was awake, but he looked terrified and lost, his eyes unfocused and searching. 

“Edward what happened? Did you have a nightm-”

He was cut off by his friend throwing his arms around him, holding onto him for dear life. Never in his life had he envisioned this happening and was thus thoroughly unprepared. But slowly, he put his arms around Ed, squeezing him gently, trying to comfort him. 

He could feel Edward’s uneven breath and the wild beating of his heart, the wet in his neck and the muffled sobs a clear indication that his panic attack wasn’t over yet. 

“It’s ok, shhh, it’s ok, you are safe” Oswald repeated in a soothing voice, rubbing small circles with his hands on Edward’s back.

Perhaps it was still the alcohol in his system, or maybe it was the intimity of the moment, but Oswald’s cheeks reddened again, unable to do much about it.

He held him like this for a little while, gentle promises of safety uttered by soft lips hung in the air, until finally Ed’s crying came to an end and he stopped shaking. 

 

“I’m sorry Oswald”

He said, sniffling a bit.

 

“Sorry? what are you sorry for?”

 

“For being a burden”

 

Oswald stilled before breaking the embrace to look at Edward.

“Edward...what makes you think you are a burden?”, a profound look of shock and disbelief was written on his face.

“I...I’m afraid not to be worthy of your attention..or your time. You always support me and help like how you got me out of arkham and gave me a job, but I feel like what I do is never enough to repay all of that.”

 

The raven haired man smiled kindly, and cupped one of his friend’s cheeks in one hand, the other man leaning into it.

 

“Ed, you don’t need to pay me back in any way. You are my friend, my only friend, and you are very dear to me. You aren’t a waste of time or attention, I enjoy your company, you are a very interesting man with many qualities. If i gave you that job it was because I saw those qualities and wanted to show the world how great you can be”, he paused, gently stroking Ed’s cheek with his thumb, “I don’t ever ask anything of you except for you to be happy, and if my help bothers you..then I will stop, ok?” 

 

Edward looked into those sea green eyes and only saw kindness there, his friend’s words touched him deeply, and he felt his eyes tear up again. 

“Thank you”

He said before wiping the tears, a bright smile illuminating his face.

 

“Now, I don’t know about you but I’m feeling a bit hungry, would you like a snack?”

Oswald’s trademark grin was back, as he let his hand fall to Edward’s shoulder

 

Ed nodded before adding: 

“Though Oswald, after the snack...I don’t really think i can go back to sleep.”

 

“That’s perfectly fine, I don’t  think I can sleep either anyway.”

 

He quickly came back with a tray of brownies, and after setting it on the table, went over the gramophone to put on some music.

Walking back to Edward, he bowed before offering his hand.

“Shall we dance?”

 


End file.
